Alex Carson
Richard Aiken
Richard Aiken is a 65-year-old man, and he is pretty talented. He was what people call a jack of all trades. He is a husband, a father, he has two Ph.D.s, a medical degree, and he is an opera singer. Also, he’s a published author. He wrote The New Ancestral Diet, and it was very well received. Richard is also good with his hands. He is really good at fixing things and building things.
Richard’s Dream
Richard always dreamed of retiring, and his dream was to live in a small cabin, far out in the woods, where he could enjoy the peace and quiet. He worked hard his whole life, and he wanted a quiet, relaxing retirement. He knew that having a second home would be expensive, and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to afford a second home in the woods. Fortunately, he got some good news.
A Cabin For Sale
Richard got a call from a man from Missouri who told him about a cabin that was for sale. He told Richard that the only problem was that the cabin was in very poor condition. He told Richard that the cabin was very run down and would need plenty of work if it were going to be livable. The cabin was in such poor condition that the man offered to let Richard have it for free. Richard didn’t want to get it for free, so he gave the man $100 for the cabin. Judging by its condition, the owner should have paid Richard to take it off his hands, but that wasn’t the way that Richard operated. He wanted the man to get something from the deal. The two agreed on a price of $100, and Richard was thrilled. He had plenty of plans for his new cabin.
Dangerous
The condition of the cabin made being inside very dangerous. It was full of debris, the roof had collapsed completely, and Richard couldn’t tell from the door whether or not the floor was intact. Richard was examining the cabin from the front door, and he knew that it would take a long time to make the necessary repairs. He decided that he would work on his cabin in his spare time, and eventually, it would be in great shape again.
Big Plans
Richard took some time to evaluate the cabin, and he realized that most of the wood was severely rotten. He knew just by looking at it that it couldn’t be saved. He realized very early on that he would have to tear most of the cabin down and rebuild. Also, he wanted to keep as much wood as possible and use it in building the cabin back up. He wanted it to have an old-fashioned, rustic look. His first job would be to figure out what he could use.
The Clean-Up
The first thing that Richard had to do was clean up the area. He had to separate the usable wood from the severely rotten wood. While Richard was creating two separate piles, he looked around. Just a quick glance reminded him of why he was taking on such a huge project. The scenery was beautiful, and there was nobody around for miles. This was what he always dreamed of, so the amount of work that he had ahead of him was going to be worth it.
Recruiting Help
Richard knew that the job would be too much for him to do on his own, so he asked a few of his family members to help him out. He could do some of the work alone, but there were certain parts of the project that would require help from his family. On one of the first days of the project, Richard’s family noticed that there was a natural spring nearby. For Richard’s cabin, this was amazing. He would be able to have a waterfront property, which would be incredible. The discovery meant that everyone helping with the cabin would need to do a lot of digging to unearth the spring. While some people were digging, the others were working to dismantle the cabin so that they could start rebuilding.
A Pond
The family did plenty of the digging by hand. When they reached the bedrock, they had to bring in some heavy equipment to get to the water. As they worked, they realized that there was enough water to create a pond. Richard never expected to have such a large body of water right outside his front door, and he knew that it needed more. He thought that a dock would be a nice touch, and fortunately, he was good with his hands, so building a dock wouldn’t be too difficult.
A New Location
Richard realized that once the cabin was dismantled, he would be able to place the rebuilt cabin anywhere he liked. Now that he had a pond complete with a dock, he knew where the house would go. He wanted it right by the pond.
Organization
One thing that Richard wanted to do from the very beginning of the project was to keep things organized. Everything was labeled so that he knew what it was for and when he would need it during the construction process. This helped avoid any confusion, and he didn’t need to worry about something useful being discarded.
As organized as Richard was, problems did come out that he couldn’t have expected. The first problem occurred when Richard was digging into the ground. He wanted to remain true to the spirit of the original construction, but when he reached bedrock after getting six-feet down, he realized that he would have to make some changes. He would have to build the cabin a few feet above the ground, but he realized early on that it might not have been the worst thing in the world. If the house were higher off the ground, the view of the scenery around would be much better.
Coming Together
Richard was very excited that things were coming together. After pouring the basement floor, Richard started using materials from trees on the property to build the house. He used a white oak to build new floor joists, and he used split cedar shakes as the shingles. He wanted to install a rustic front porch, which would provide a great place to sit and enjoy the views of the pond. And he used all repurposed wood to build the porch. Using the repurposed wood helped him save some money, and the cabin was blending in nicely with its surroundings.
The Source Of Heat For A $100 Cabin
Richard knew that his cabin would need a source of heat, and he had his heart set on a fireplace. He believed that a cabin wouldn’t be a cabin without a fireplace. He went shopping for one fireplace in particular. Then, he wanted a Rumford fireplace because it was the most commonly used type between 1796 and 1850. He was sure that the fireplace would add to the rustic nature of the cabin.
A Staircase For A $100 Cabin
The cabin was going to have two floors. This meant that he would need a staircase to help him get from the first floor to the second easily. At first, he was thinking about building a ladder, but he decided that a staircase would be a better option. As he got older, he might not be able to use the ladder, so he decided to build a staircase. Richard found a fallen oak tree in the middle of the forest, which for him was great. He didn’t have to buy the wood, and he didn’t have to worry about killing a perfectly healthy tree. He worked hard, soon, he had a gorgeous flight of stairs.
The Perfect Touches In A $100 Cabin
Richard knew that the right touches would give his cabin the rustic look that he was going for. Since the door would be the first thing that people noticed about the cabin, he knew that it had to be perfect. He wanted it to have a rustic, woodsy look. He wanted to tie the look together by creating matching window frames. His family and he took the materials to a carpenter, who built a door and window frames that were precisely what Richard had imaged. It was a very simple design, which is what Richard wanted for his cabin. He wanted it to have a simple, rustic look, and things were going exactly as he had planned.
Filling In the Gaps
The logs that Richard used to build his cabin were organically shaped. Since they weren’t like Lincoln Logs that many children love to play with, the holes would need to be filled in. With the help of his family, they used chicken wire and an outdoor sealant to fill in the gaps between the log. Fortunately, the filler that they used helped to create a natural look. It took quite a while, but with the help of his family, they got it done.
Decorating the Inside The
Now that the outside of the cabin was built, it was time to decorate the inside. Richard wanted to keep the interior looking just as rustic looking as the outside. He brought in some rustic tables and chairs and stacked up some wood inside so he could keep the cabin warm. Richard’s second home was finally coming together, and he was thrilled by the way it was starting to look. He was thrilled that he avoided a modern look for the cabin because it was coming out great with its rustic décor.
A Place To Eat
Richard was planning to have his family visit the cabin often, so he was going to need a large table for everyone to enjoy a meal together. The Aiken’s Amish neighbors build Richard a table out of a fallen walnut tree and a native white oak tree. They wanted to design the table so that it would be light and easy to move. Since there was no dedicated heating system in the house, he knew that he would need to move the table by the fire on cold nights. If it were light, this wouldn’t be a problem. The table came out great, and it was a great addition to the rustic cabin.
Lighting, A $100 Cabin
Since Richard didn’t have electricity so far out in the woods, he was going to need a natural light source. First, he built a candle chandelier, that could be lit when Richard needed light late at night. He also cut a window in the peaked roof, which would allow natural light to flood into the cabin during the day. Richard placed the window in the perfect spot because on a sunny day; the entire cabin was lit up.
A Loft Bed
Richard knew that he would need a bed in his new cabin. When he was there, he would need a place to sleep. Also, when his family used the cabin, which he was sure they would, they would also need a place to sleep. He decided that a loft bed would work perfectly. The bed was big and cozy, and it fits in the cabin perfectly.
Cooking In A $100 Cabin
Richard was looking forward to cooking meals for his family, so he installed a hearth. The hearth could cook everything from a hot cup of cocoa or an entire meal. The interior of the cabin was small, so that they couldn’t build a complete kitchen. Fortunately, the hearth could do all of the things that they needed it to do.
An Amazing Retreat
A man remodels cabin with $100, wait till you see inside. The final product was more than Richard ever dreamed of, and it barely cost him any money. He has been spending as much time as possible at his cabin, and his family has been enjoying time there as well. It may have been a lot of work, but it was well worth it. He finally had the retirement home that he always dreamed of.
